Synopses & Reviews
Words of the Real People collects the life stories, poetry, and oral literature of the Yupik, Inupiaq, and Alutiiq peoples of Alaska, making them widely available to readers in English for the first time. Accompanied by background essays on each Native group, the literature in this collection embraces Native Alaskan life in all its rich variety. From tales of malevolent shamans to the unexpected poetry of the urban experience, and from ancient tales passed down for generations to contemporary stories being woven into a new tradition, Words of the Real People stakes out an important place for Native Alaskan literature as a vibrant, living tradition and will be essential to folklorists, anthropologists, and anyone interested in the storied past of our continent's most forbidding reaches.
Review
2008
Choice Outstanding Academic Title
Choice
About the Author
Ann Fienup-Riordan is an anthropologist and author of numerous books on the people of Alaska.Lawrence D. Kaplan is director of the Alaska Native Language Center and professor of linguistics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He is coauthor of The Comparative Eskimo Dictionary.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Yupik and Iñupiaq Literature in Translation
Ann Fienup-Riordan
PART I—Central Yupik and Cupig Narratives
Qulirat, Qanemcit-llu: Tales and Stories
Ann Fienup-Riordan
Yaqutgiarcaq and Her Family
Natalia White, Elsie Mather, and Phyllis Morrow
One Who Didnt Think Much of a Mans Stomach
Paul John and Sophie Shield
Quliraq
Frances Usugan and Cathy Moses
Aanakallii Neraqallii / I Have Eaten My Mother
Frank Andrew and Alice Rearden
The Five Sisters
Lena Ilutsik, Virginia Ilutsik Andrew, and Esther Ilutsik
Atkuut Tengaurturalriit / A Flying Parka
Paul John and Marie Meade
Sibling Brothers
Andrew Noatak, Howard Amos, and Robert Drozda
Works Cited
PART II—Iñupiaq Narratives
Introduction to Iñupiaq Narratives
Lawrence D. Kaplan
Uva?a Atiga Aliitchak?/?My Name Is Aliitchak
Minnie Gray, Tadataka Nagai, and Lawrence D. Kaplan
A Long Unipkaaq
Jimmie Killigivuk, Tom Lowenstein, and Carol Omnik
The Story of the King Island Wolf Dance
Lucy Tanaqiq Kokuk, Earl Aisana Mayac, and Deanna Paniataaq Kingston
King Island Iñupiaq Stories
Frank Ellanna, Bernadette Alvanna-Stimpfle, and Lawrence D. Kaplan
An Unwritten Law of the SeaHerbert Anungazuk and Lawrence D. Kaplan
Works Cited
PART III Siberian Yupik Narratives
Introduction to Siberian Yupik Narratives
Lawrence D. Kaplan
Yuuk Neqenyuqaq
Theodore Kingiikaq and Vera Metcalf
Three Generations of St. Lawrence Island Writers:
The Work of Paul Silook, Robert Silook, and Susie Silook
Susie Silook
Qati Hik: A St. Lawrence Island Yupik Tale
Della Waghiyi and Willem J. de Reuse
Works Cited
PART IV Alutiiq Narratives
Introduction to Alutiiq Narratives
Patricia Partnow
The Power of Story: Arnaq Taqukaraam Pillra/The Woman Who Was Gotten by the Bear
Ignatius Kosbruk, Patricia Partnow, and Jeffrey Leer
Works Cited
Index